The San Diego Humane Society cares for injured, orphaned, and sick wild animals through its program Project Wildlife. Project Wildlife is one of the largest wildlife rehabilitation organizations in the country. During a growth spurt in the program, they were overwhelmed with injured pelicans. The Irvine Animal Care Center came to the rescue, providing an entire dog kennel building to house the seabirds until they were well enough to return home. 

The Irvine Animal Care Center received the Shelter of the Year award in 2007 from Purina’s Annual Awards by Dogs in Review BowTie Inc., in recognition of the leadership and service given to the greater community during the wildfire scourge the previous fall.  During the firestorm, the center received more than 90 pets from families who had to evacuate homes in San Diego, San Bernardino, and Orange Counties.  All animals were safely returned to their owners after their week-plus visit. The center also responded to an emergency request from the Escondido Humane Society (EHS), pulling (and later adopting) 57 homeless dogs to make room for evacuating families’ pets at EHS. 

These early efforts were the genesis of what we know now as the Third Chance for Pets program. The center has offered support to shelters facing fires in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Riverside too, has taken in animals from out-of-state displaced by hurricanes and floods, and has eased the load on neighboring shelters by taking in cats, dogs, and rabbits when hoarding cases or overcrowding push them over the limit. Bringing adoptable pets to the center through the Third Chance for Pets program was formalized in 1999. More than 13,000 pets have benefitted from the program since then.